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Paintball – Cover

The biggest challenge for new players is how to properly use cover. Most will run up and hug a bunker, practically hug it, and hope no one notices. Worse yet, they will pop straight up from a bunker and “look” for someone to shoot at!

The problems

Hiding in a bunker hinders your ability to move. This basically means the enemy will figure out were you are eventually and there isn’t much you can do about it.

When hiding in a bunker, you can’t see where people are. If they move, you have no idea.

When you pop up from a bunker, it takes a couple of moments to figure out where your enemy is, aim, fire, and adjust your shot to get it on target. A smart enemy will take a couple of practice shots at the bunker to get there fire near where it needs to be and wait for your head to pop up. Just takes a moment for them to fire and your still looking.

What to do?

Well, sometimes your only option is to take cover. In these causes you need to be smart. NEVER stick your head out. Always find an angle where you can see someone coming and when you have the opportunity, pick a bunker where someone else can watch your blind spot.

If your up against one or two people, DON’T hug the bunker! Instead, back up from it and try to use a tree or other obstacle down field as your cover. If you can see either side of where the enemy is, but they can’t fire at you, well, you can take aim and wait for them to move one way or another. In addition, this frees you up to move closer if you don’t think they know where you are for a quick up front surprise or retreat and move to where you want to be when your out of range of their fire.

One last bit, don’t underestimate the power of a hill or tree cover. Anything that blocks the line of site or causes the balls to break before reaching you can be used to your advantage. Use anything that keeps your enemy from landing a hit to help you move and position yourself.

This is a learning process in the end. You need to get good at keeping aware of your surroundings even when wearing a mask that limits your visibility and hearing. Some times the environment will effect what works and what doesn’t, but the key is to start looking at the field a little different and I hope this helps some get you started.